Move-In Day
by dreamoverdrive
Summary: Getting settled into her new dorm turned out to be much more eventful than what Jinora had expected.


Jinora decided that there were far too many people and far too many things for her to do for this to go remotely well.

Hoards of newcomers shoved her around, jostling their way through the crowd in an effort to get to a car, an elevator, or somewhere in between. A lot of the students looked pumped; they were grinning, but even the wild grins were tinged with the slightly over-stretched look of fear- _holy shit I'm on my own. _Some of them were chattering away to parents as they hauled the weighed down boxes, trying to fit in the months of conversation that phone calls wouldn't be able to replace. A lot were like her, examining their shoes as much as they could without bumping into anyone and clearly waiting for something to make the whole experience less nerve-wracking.

Her family had gone to park the car about twenty minutes away because she'd somehow ended up with the dorm that had worst parking for unloading. Her mom had shoved her out of the backseat with the help of her two child-turned-gremlin siblings. There had been no mercy. Before she knew it, her seat belt was undone and she was floundering in a mess of arms that were ushering her out. Her mom's eyes had gleamed tenderly as Jinora stumbled onto the sidewalk. _Go on, Jinora. You won't make any friends with us hanging over you. We'll be out with the boxes in a minute. _

Both Tenzin and Jinora had protested vocally but Pema somehow convinced him to drive away from the curb to leave Jinora standing with a ballooning sense of panic. The sedan merged into the mess of other cars and Jinora was very, very alone.

It had been a full five minutes and panic had escalated into quiet hysteria which she knew was irrational- get a hold of yourself, Jinora- but it didn't help that she felt like the only one in this entire crowd that was truly lost. People kept passing her on all sides and she had picked a direction to wander two minutes ago but by now she had come full circle. She wondered if anyone had noticed that she had just walked in a loop with absolutely no destination in mind but no one seemed to be noticing her much anyways.

There was a strange sense of fear growing in her at the first moments of separation she was experiencing. Meelo wasn't shouting her ear or latched onto her arm, and the ever-present hum of Ikki's chatter was gone. And yet, something was blossoming in her chest. It was glowing pride and excitement, because even if all these people were making her nervous, they were sweeping her up in their anticipation. She'd be alone for the first time. That was terrifying in itself but exhilarating at the same time.

Her excitement was tainted by the sense of being alone in the crowd. Of course, there was no hurry in the friend department. People would be begging her for companionship. Who doesn't want a book-obsessed bestie with absolutely no interest in partying? She'd be _best buds_ with her roommate (her thoughts most certainly weren't taking a cynical turn because cynical wasn't Jinora at all). It would be ridiculously improbable for her not to meet _someone_ but she was starting to wonder if she would have anyone to be friends with at all-

"Oh my god! I am so sorry!"

Jinora felt dazed, her hip still aching from where a sharp corner had knocked it. She looked up from the ground and had to blink a few times because whoever had sent her sprawling had the sun behind him. All she could see was a dark silhouette of a head and an outstretched hand.

She scowled and grabbed the hand, gearing up to give whoever it had been a piece of her mind. She'd had enough of wandering around stressing over nothing. So this guy thought she'd be an easy target? Thought he'd knock over the lost-looking freshmen to impress some other jerks and make new friends at her expense? Well she wasn't about to take any-

_Oh my. _

She may have just gotten knocked over by the cutest guy in the entire dorm. His green-grey eyes gazed down at her in concern as she stared up with what must have been a breathtakingly composed expression. _Not. _

"I am so sorry. I was in a hurry and I had a bunch of stuff that I couldn't see over. I really didn't mean to do this."

She blinked and _oh maybe she should say something. _"You're fine! I mean, I'm fine! We're both fine!" She groaned inwardly and immediately looked down at the scattered contents of his box lying on the pavement.

"I really whacked you one. Are you sure you're alright?"

Her eyes moved up against her will and she was trapped again in that lovely green color. Her face had probably started to glow red judging by how hot it was feeling right now but for some reason she had lost faculty of her ability to think, let alone look away.

"Hey, man. Do you mind moving your stuff? People have been walking around it for like five minutes."

They both jumped and looked over at an irritated guy with a load of his own. He was eyeing them and the mess at their feet with disapproval. Jinora jolted back to her senses at the interruption and she suddenly was very aware of the fact that she was still holding on to this mystery boy's (very warm) hand.

She quickly let go and he looked down at their unlinked hands in surprise before looking back at her. Dare she hope that he felt a little dazed, too? He gulped and his adam's apple bobbed. "Yeah, sure," he said to the passerby.

With lack of anything better to do, Jinora began to bend down to help gather the textbooks but apparently he had the same idea because a there was dull impact at the front of her head. She landed hard on her butt for the second time that day to feel the scratchy cement through her jeans. Her head pulsed angrily at the abuse.

"Oh shit not again-"

But Jinora was too busy laughing at the absurdness of this entire encounter to hear the rest of his apology. She'd been wandering around feeling sorry for herself on one of the most exciting days of her life, and it had taken this guy to literally knock some sense into her. In a way, she was glad. After moment's pause he joined in laughter. She wiped the corners of her eyes, still giggling a bit as she pushed herself onto her knees. She began to gather the books along with him.

"Hey, what's your name?"

She glanced up shyly, but the fact that he had just nearly given her a concussion had done away with whatever tension had been there.

"Jinora. And you?"

"Kai."

She flashed him a smile. "Well, Kai, thank you for making this day memorable even before I started moving in."

He ruffled his tousled black hair with a nervous hand and grinned sheepishly. "Should I apologize again or say you're welcome?"

She shrugged. "It's fine. I'm not hurt-"

"How about I apologize with dinner?"

Her mouth dropped open-doing great with the composure, Jinora- but he was giving her such a bright, lopsided grin that she couldn't help but stutter, "Sure."

She pushed herself to her feet and he followed suit, taking his books from her arms. "Here, I'll give you my number-"

"Jinora!"

She started and spun around to see her dad shoving through the crowd with a long box awkwardly held lengthwise against his body. Meelo and Ikki were stumbling along beside him with smaller loads and her mom seemed to be the only one managing with her burden well.

She looked back at Kai and cringed. "I really have to go!"

She turned and started shoving through the people to get to her family before she lost them when her name was called for a second time.

"Jinora!" She turned back and her heart leapt into her throat when she saw him waving enthusiastically over the stream of people.

"I'll find you sometime this week!" he yelled.

A thousand reasons why he wouldn't be able to find her ran though her mind. Did he see how many people there were just here? But his eyes were flashing and he just look so _certain _that Jinora couldn't help but believe him. She allowed herself a small smile before nodding and going after her swamped parents.

Well, perhaps she had been wrong. Things were going very well indeed.


End file.
